Bookmarkable URLThe composition of this relief is a very close copy of a famous drawing of the same subject made by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) in 1532 depicting the rape of Ganymede – a young shepherd loved by Jupiter and carried by the god to the heavens to serve as his cup-bearer. A version of the drawing, possibly the original by Michelangelo, is today at the Fogg Art Museum of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The drawing was very popular at the time, and was translated into a rock crystal engraving by Giovanni Bernardi (1496-1553). Both documented versions of the rock crystal engraving are lost, but their composition is known through bronze plaquettes, most of which seem to replicate the same version and present slight differences from our relief. A marble relief once in the collection of Lucien Bonaparte was originally attributed to Michelangelo himself. Now lost, the marble is documented by an engraving closely replicating the composition of our relief. The popularity of the theme of the rape of Ganymede during the Renaissance has sometimes been interpreted through Neoplatonic philosophy: Ganymede would therefore represent the human soul and his story be a symbol of platonic love. However, the homoerotic and violent charge of the subject, still evident in the aggression of the eagle, cannot be overlooked. S316 is a relief of great quality and impact. The modelling seems to have been made exclusively in the wax and very meticulously detailed with various tools and even a fine comb used to texturise the background. The relief has been attributed to Vincenzo Danti on the basis of context as well as stylistic grounds. Danti was a close follower of Michelangelo and considered him the greatest inspiration for any artist aspiring to master human anatomy. Danti trained in Rome in the 1540s and 50s, originally within the workshop of a goldsmith, and might have met Michelangelo at the time. Even without direct contact, he would have been surrounded by the master’s work in Rome and later on paid him tribute in his ‘Treatise of Perfect Proportions’ in 1567. Working in Perugia and Florence in the 1550s and 60s Danti became renowned for his bronze reliefs and seems to have preferred the oval format for these. The waxiness of the relief, the use of undercuts and the effort put into achieving a sketch-like effect in what was actually a very meticulously worked wax model (again deriving from Michelangelo) are all typical of his work.

Bookmarkable URLThis elaborate and decorative bird's-eye view of Valletta – combining a map-like representation of the town’s principal fortifications and structures, with a display of the Order of St. John’s battle fleet in the surrounding harbour – is typical of 18th-century painted depictions of Malta. This view shows the Fort of Saint Elmo, best known for its role in the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, when the Ottoman Empire attempted to invade the island. By this time, Malta was ruled by the Order of St. John, as Emperor Charles V (Charles II of Sicily) had awarded the island to the Knights of the Order (thereafter sometimes known as the Knights of Malta) in 1530.

Valletta, the present-day capital of Malta, was largely built after the siege of 1565. Its name derives from that of Jean Parisot de la Vallette, the Grand Master of the Knights of Saint John in the 1560s, who had withstood the siege. In fact, the island remained in the possession of the Order until Napoleon’s occupation in 1798.

The Order is represented in the present painting by the warships and galleasses in the harbour, which fly the flag of the Knights of Malta (red with a white cross). A procession of the Grand Master of the Knights of Saint John can also be made out in front of the lighthouse at the edge of the port.

At one time, this painting was thought to have been painted by the Italian view-painter, Canaletto. This attribution was rightly rejected in the 1970s, when a similarity to the work of Giuseppe Guerra – a minor 18th-century painter in Rome – was noted. More recently, it has been suggested that the artist might be Alberto Pullicino (1719-1765), who is known to have painted several seascapes of his native Malta.

Bookmarkable URLFrom a group of four small bronze figures in the Collection, all of which show infant boys or putti playing a variety of musical instruments (the others, S203, S204 and S205, holding up a shell, playing the flute, and playing the triangle respectively).

The models for the figures seem to have originated in Rome, in the circle of sculptors such as Alessandro Algardi (1595 – 1654) and François Duquesnoy (1597 – 1643), but these casts were almost certainly made, and mounted on their bases, in France around the middle of the eighteenth century.

As there are substantial differences in the body-type of the figures between the two pairs, and since S204 and S205 have drapery acting as cache-sexe, missing here and in S203, it is possible that models of different origin were brought together.

Cast as pairs or quartets and often also incorporated into designs for candelabras, examples of these bronzes began to appear in sale catalogues in Paris from 1767.

Bookmarkable URLFrom a group of four small bronze figures in the Collection, all of which show infant boys or putti playing a variety of musical instruments (the others, S202, S204 and S205, blowing into a double conch shell, playing the flute, and playing the triangle respectively).

The models for the figures seem to have originated in Rome, in the circle of sculptors such as Alessandro Algardi (1595 – 1654) and François Duquesnoy (1597 – 1643), but these casts were almost certainly made, and mounted on their bases, in France around the middle of the eighteenth century.

As there are substantial differences in the body-type of the figures between the two pairs, and since S204 and S205 have drapery acting as cache-sexe, missing here and in S202, it is possible that models of different origin were brought together.

Cast as pairs or quartets and often also incorporated into designs for candelabras, examples of these bronzes began to appear in sale catalogues in Paris from 1767.

Bookmarkable URLFrom a group of four small bronze figures in the Collection, all of which show infant boys or putti playing a variety of musical instruments (the others, S202, S203 and S205, blowing into a double conch shell, holding up a shell, and playing the triangle respectively).

The models for the figures seem to have originated in Rome, in the circle of sculptors such as Alessandro Algardi (1595 – 1654) and François Duquesnoy (1597 – 1643), but these casts were almost certainly made, and mounted on their bases, in France around the middle of the eighteenth century.

As there are substantial differences in the body-type of the figures between the two pairs and since S202 and S203 lack the drapery acting as cache-sexe, present in S204 and S205, it is possible that models of different origin were brought together.

Cast as pairs or quartets and often also incorporated into designs for candelabras, examples of these bronzes began to appear in sale catalogues in Paris from 1767.

Bookmarkable URLFrom a group of four small bronze figures in the Collection, all of which show infant boys or putti playing a variety of musical instruments (the others, S202, S203 and S204, blowing into a double conch shell, holding up a shell, and playing the flute respectively).

The models for the figures seem to have originated in Rome, in the circle of sculptors such as Alessandro Algardi (1595 – 1654) and François Duquesnoy (1597 – 1643), but these casts were almost certainly made, and mounted on their bases, in France around the middle of the eighteenth century.

As there are substantial differences in the body-type of the figures between the two pairs, and since S202 and S203 lack the drapery acting as cache-sexe, present in S205 and S204, it is possible that models of different origin were brought together.

Cast as pairs or quartets and often also incorporated into designs for candelabras, examples of these bronzes began to appear in sale catalogues in Paris from 1767.